Puncturing tool



March 11, 1958 w. B. BEECHER PUNCTURING TOOL Filed Aug. 12, 1955INVENTOR BRYCE BEECH ER United States Patento PUNCTURING TOOL WilliamBryce Beecher, Troy, Mich.

Application August 12, 1955, Serial No. 527,915

11 Claims. (Cl. 30-61) This invention relates to a tool for puncturingtin plate and the like and its most particular aspect concerns a tool orutensil of the indicated type which is especially adapted for puncturingmetal containers as beer and condensed milk cans.

The most commonly used beer can opener consists of a simple leversuitably formed at one end to puncture the can and carrying near suchend a tang designed to hook under the bead around the top of the can tofulcrurned the lever. The puncture is achieved by pulling up .on thefulcrumed lever so that the puncturing portion thereof is forceddownwardly through the metal. the .opening made as described, it isnecessary, in order that the beer will pour freely, to repeat theoperation to form a second opening, serving as an air vent. Theresulting holes or cuts are of triangular shape, the apex of thetriangle pointing away from the rim toward the center of the can top.

The prior opener, although inexpensive to the point that it may be givenaway as a premium, has a number of faults. In the first place, an undueamount of force is required to make the cut and unless the can isgrasped very firmly it is prone to slip, with spilling and foaming overof a portion of the contents. Moreover, the triangular cut produced bythis tool is not properly related to the top of the can. Thus, if theapex of the triangle pointed toward the rim of the can rather thantoward the axis thereof a pouring spout would be provided.

My invention has as a principal object to provide an opener requiringsubstantially less force in use and which answers to the desideratumjust mentioned.

Another object is to provide such an opener which is adapted to theopening of metal containers, as condensed milk cans, which aremanufactured without beads at the ends.

Still another object is to provide an opener in the use of which therequired force is applied downwardly rather than upwardly as heretofore.

Although my opener is relatively involved as compared to the prioropener, and hence is somewhat more expensive to manufacture, theadditional cost is not excessive; indeed is negligible when measured interms of the convenience the opener affords.

I shall particularly describe my invention in terms of the embodimentsthereof illustrated by the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows the form of beer can opener I presently prefer, the sameappearing in side elevation applied to a can;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the opener of Figure 1, the same again beingshown as applied to a beer can;

Figure 3 illustrates the principle of operation of the opener;

Figure 4 shows in side elevation the presently preferred condensed milkcan opener;

Figure 5 is a plan of the last mentioned opener; and

Figure 6 is a section on the line indicated in Figure 2.

With 7 lice Referring first to Figures 1 and 2, the numeral 10 denotes abase member, which in the case of the particular embodiment, is formedon a half-circle properly dimensioned with relation to the top of thecan 15. Member 10 is most suitably manufactured by a stamping andforming operation providing strengthening ridges 12 and a bead grippingsnap edge 14. Also, incident to such operation there are provided twopairs of standards or supports, 16, 18 for pins, 20, 22 respectively.

Pins 20 extend through flanges 25 (Figure 6) carried by a puncturingelement 24, which otherwise may be formed in the manner of the cuttingportion of the conventional opener. The underside of element 24 is shownas engaged by the upturned portion 26 (Figure 3) of a lever member 28having flanges 27 through which pin 22 extends. Lever 28 will be notedas having strengthening ridges and as punched out at 31 (Figure 2) toprovide an air vent spike 30.

The operation of the described opener is believed obvious from Figure 3taken in conjunction with Figure l. Suffice it to say, that when levermember 28 is depressed puncturing element 24 is rotated on its pivot tomake the triangular puncture, the completion of this puncture beingmarked by the formation of the air vent opening, this being the functionof spike 30. The parts are restored to their relative positions shown inFigure l, incident to application of the tool to the next can to beopened.

In the modification illustrated by Figures 4 and 5, wherein likenumerals denote like parts in the other figures, these numerals,however, being primed, base member 10 is formed on a full circle and hassecured thereto by means of a clamping ring 34 a sleeve 36 extendingdownwardly of the beadless can for a distance substantially asillustrated. This sleeve, which is grasped by the free hand during theopening operation, may be formed, with advantage, of natural orsynthetic rubber compounded to a stifiness such that it will not tend tounduly fold or buckle thereby to complicate application of the tool tothe can.

It should be apparent that my invention answers fully to the statedobjects thereof; also that it is subject to substantial modificationwithout departure from the basic concept.

What I claim is:

1. In a can opener, the combination of a base member adapted to engagethe top of the can and a pair of levers independently pivotallysupported by said base member, one of said levers being formed as apuncturing element, the other being of substantially greater length andbeing positioned to engage the undersurface of said first lever so thatwhen subjected to a downwardly applied force it operates to rotate saidfirst lever thereby to make the puncture.

2. An opener according to claim 1 where said longer lever carries aspike serving to produce an air vent in the can.

3. An opener according to claim 1 in which said puncturing lever isformed to produce a triangular cut with the apex of the trianglepointing toward the rim of the can.

4. In a can opener, the combination of an arcuate base member having abead gripping snap edge for engagement of the top of the can, and a pairof levers independently pivotally supported by said base member, one ofsaid levers being formed as a puncturing element, the other being ofsubstantially greater length and being positioned to engage theundersurface of said first lever so that when subjected to a downwardlyapplied force it operates to rotate said first lever thereby to make thepuncture.

5. In a can opener, the combination of an arcuate base member carrying asleeve whereby the opener may be maintained in proper relation to thetop of the can during the opening operation, and a pair of leversindependently pivotally supported by said base member, one of saidlevers being formed as a puncturing element, the other being ofsubstantially greater length and being positioned to engage theundersurface of said first lever so that when subjected to a downwardlyapplied force it operates to rotate said first lever thereby to make thepuncture.

6. An opener according to claim in which said sleeve is formed of rubbercompounded to a stiffness such that it will not tend to unduly fold orbuckle incident to application of the opener to the can.

7. In a can opener the combination of a base member adapted to engagethe top of the can and a pair of coacting levers carried by said basemember, one of said levers being formed as a puncturing element andbeing pivotally supported by said base member through a pair ofstandards integral therewith, the other of said levers being ofsubstantially greater length and being similarly supported by said basemember through a pair of standards spaced inwardly of the rim of the canfrom said first pair of standards, said last mentioned lever beingadapted in operation of the opener to engage the undersurface of saidpuncturing lever so that when subjected to a downwardly applied force itserves to rotate said puncturing lever thereby to make the opening.

8. An opener according to claim 7 further characterized in that each ofsaid levers carries a pair of apertured flanges accommodating a pinwhich also extends through the corresponding standards carried by saidbase memher.

9. In a puncturing tool, a base member adapted to '4 engage the objectto be punctured, a puncturing element pivotally supported by said basemember, and means similarly supported by said base member rotatable tobring about puncturing movement of said puncturing element throughsurface engagement therewith.

10. In a can opener, a base member adapted to engage the top of the can,a first lever pivotally supported by said base member, said lever havinga portion formed to produce a puncture, and a second lever independentlypivotally supported by said base member, said second lever beingswingable about its pivot to cause puncturing movement of said firstlever through surface engagement therewithv 11. In a can opener, a basemember adapted to engage the top of the can, a first lever pivotallysupported by said base member, said lever having a portion formed toproduce a puncture, and a second lever similarly supported by said basemember, said second lever carrying a puncturing element and beingrotatable to bring about puncturing movement of said first lever throughsurface engagement therewith, the completion of such movement beingmarked by puncturing action of the puncturing element carried by saidsecond lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,295,004 Coffman Feb. 18, 1919 2,052,084 De Trempo Aug. 25, 19362,203,911 Krafty June 11, 1940 2,376,756 Bye May 22, 1945 2,578,979McLean Dec. 18, 1951

